Dr Who  Life after the TARDIS
by RNJ12
Summary: Amy and Rory's life after leaving the TARDIS - what else can i say  and yes it does take a large geek level to do this ! SPOILERS FOR WEDDING OF RIVER SONG AND REST OF SERIES 6
1. Chapter 1

Mrs Williams lay on the royal blue sofa in her living room. The book she had been reading before she drifted off lay open but faced down on the cushion next to her . In her head however a much more exciting plot line than the one in her novel was playing out - but this wasn't fiction , it was fact. Etched in her memory like cave drawings carved in stone: artistic and magical yet strong and in-erasable . The only external signs of these adventures were a few faint scars including a cut on her leg gained climbing out of the crashed Byzantium or a tiny freckle on the palm of her right hand where a nano-recorder bound with the cartilage in her hand had been forcefully removed . The only other calling card left by her many adventures was a content smile that played across her lips as she slept and dreamt.

"Amy ?" A voice cut through her dreams of star-ships, space-stations , Silurians and Silents to registered with her . She woke with a start , her hazel eyes jerked open and and then she blinked quickly as she adjusted to the bright beams of sunlight that were streaming through her living room window . "yes Rory ?" she replied sleepily as she rose up off the sofa, smoothed down her long copper-coloured hair until it hung round her shoulders in her trademark style and made her way outside into the garden to see what he wanted.

Her husband Rory sat in an old garden chair in the middle of the lawn which he had spent all day meticulously mowing and clipping into perfection. His jeans and checked shirt were grass stained as a sign of his hard day's labour and his frayed gardening gloves were strewn on the neat grass near his feet. It wasn't Rory who drew Amy's attention though , for next to him sat a woman who Amy knew well , her strawberry blonde curls surrounded her head like a halo as she laughed with Rory and sipped from the glass of white wine in her hand. Her black leather coat hung over her chair – unneeded and redundant on this glorious summer day. Next to it was slung a slightly worn tweed jacket with leather elbow patches . Looking up Amy was delighted to see the jacket's owner smiling benignly , his hand on his wife's shoulder as she gazed upwards into his wise but seemingly young face.


	2. Chapter 2

Amy looked from one of their faces to the other , she couldn't believe it. It was like they had been edited out of their own lives – lives of dashing between planets and stars : saving people and civilisations without time to stop or think. And here they were, entered into the life she had now – a quiet happy settled marriage to a man she knew would do anything for her , and her for him.

But within a split second Amy had overcome her disbelief and a wave of sheer delight washed over her. "River ! Doctor !" she cried running over to them and embracing River while Rory and the Doctor laughed fondly. Amy felt like she hadn't seen her daughter for so long , if she thought carefully she could probably have worked it out to only have been about a year (in her timeline of course) but a feeling of massive relief struck her whenever she saw River again and she felt unable to let go of River for fear she would disappear away as quickly as she appeared. Evidence of the feelings that lingered from that day years in the future when Melody would be taken away from her at the hands of Kovarian and the Silence .

When Amy had finally finished hugging River and had got over the shock of seeing her , her thoughts turned to the Doctor. He was still smiling as he cried "Amelia Pond !" and she threw her arms around his shoulders nearly knocking him over in her excitement.

They all sat out in the garden throughout that day and late into the evening. They talked and talked, Rory and Amy hearing tales of the Doctor and River's adventures . It seemed like they were the perfect pair for protecting worlds and species and this was confirmed by many victories : the time River stopped a slitheen from stealing the lost moon of poosh while the Doctor (armed of course with his trusty sonic screwdriver ) had ensured a huge starliner with over 300,000 people had made it safely to Clom even after all seventeen of its engines were destroyed by the fire breathing slugs of Sibelius 7 who had found their way on-board. Amy couldn't remember smiling or laughing as much in the past ten years as she did that evening but in the back of her mind a feeling of sorrow was building ; she knew that sooner or later River and the Doctor would have to fly away once more and she would go back to the way her life was now : her life of dreaming of adventures – not living them.


	3. Chapter 3

Anyone eavesdropping on the conversation in Amy and Rory's garden that evening could not be blamed for worrying about the state of their audiological, and possibly neurological, health but the odd topics discussed did eventually subside. After all the stars that could possibly appear had appeared in the night sky and the Doctor had finished telling them about each one as it came into view he turned to Amy. "So Pond," he said, as if it followed on with no glitch from the other-worldly words that he had only just shared "what are you doing these days ?" This fairly standard phrase took Amy completely off guard " in , er , terms of what ?" she asked with a puzzled expression on her face "well you know ; Work ? Mortgage? Family ? All those normal things" he said, his face contorting into one of disgust and his fingers forming inverted commas around the word "normal" as it left his lips.

"Work ? Well not a lot to tell really … oh ! I did do some modelling a few years ago" she said vaguely but Rory was determined not to leave it like this "Don't do yourself down !" he exclaimed and then turning to the Doctor he continued where Amy had left off "She put loads of work in , contacting huge companies with an idea for this perfume and they loved it , out-bidding each other , practically falling over each other to buy it and then the chain of shops who won asked her to model for the poster , I mean why wouldn't they ?..." He finally finished his praise for Amy and then looked down at his feet - a little sheepish after his slight outburst but Amy looked at him lovingly and reached out her hand to his . He leaned over and kissed her – so proud of his wife for all her hard work.

"Oh yes , Petrichor !" the Doctor said, looking very proud of Amy himself "I saw that , not a bad job, and I bet you haven't heard the end of it have you ? People coming up to you for autographs and things even when you're just … I don't know, out shopping? "

"How did you … ?"

The Doctor laughed " you don't think I stop keeping track of you lot when you leave the TARDIS do you ? What do you take me for Amelia ?" he said acting hurt and offended .

"You !" she screamed, reaching across and playfully punching him on the arm . Maybe she should have been cross that he had clearly seen her and not come up to say anything but she knew from experience that ,like absolutely everything that the Doctor did it would have been in her best interests or the best interest of those important to her.


	4. Chapter 4

As Amy told the Doctor and River about the other aspects of their new life after the TARDIS Rory could tell that she was tired . Her head rested on his shoulder as if she found it far too heavy to hold up on her own , her usually pristine make-up was smudged around her eyes where she had rubbed them continually in a failed attempt to keep them open . She kept losing the thread of what she said – missing out large and important parts of some stories or repeating details of others and as she spoke her voice became quieter and quieter until she was barely audible. It was unsurprising that Amy was so exhausted ; they had talked so long into the night that the pale light that signalled dawn was beginning to show over in the east. Cutting across his wife's almost incomprehensible stories Rory suggested hesitantly that they should call it a night. The Doctor and River nodded understandingly and started to say goodbye but Amy stopped them "stay" she begged "Please , you can't just drop down out of the sky for one evening and leave ! Please , I can't let you go , not yet !" The doctor looked a little uncomfortable but River answered for him "we'd love to !" she said with barely time to think but she sounded so sure that even the Doctor wouldn't have dared to overrule her this time.

So Rory led them all inside and showed them the way to the guest room , sorting out bedding and coat hangers for some clothes that the Doctor had fetched from the TARDIS. By the time Rory got to bed Amy was already fast asleep , her eyes tightly closed and her breathing steady , although she lay still Rory could tell she was dreaming as her mouth twitched upwards into a smile . "Well ," thought Rory "as long as she's happy , so am I" and he got into bed . Lightly kissing his wife goodnight before he too fell asleep.

When Amy awoke the next morning Rory was already up and his half of the bed lay crumpled , the covers thrown back as he had left them as he got out of bed . Amy however preferred to take her time getting up and usually wouldn't have even considered setting foot out of bed for at least another half hour when she suddenly remembered that they had guests – and special ones at that .

She leapt out of bed and pulled on her jeans and favourite red checked shirt as quickly as she could she ran downstairs in the same way she had as a small child on Christmas morning . In some ways she knew exactly why she was hurrying but she didn't want to think about the possibility that she could have missed them . She half expected to hear the TARDIS de-materialise as she reached the bottom step but as she wheeled round the doorway into the kitchen she heard Rory say something and heard River laugh in response , he heart soared as she hurried through the kitchen into the dining room and joined the group who were sitting round in her carefully decorated dining room. They were just about to start breakfast when Amy entered. The Doctor was busily spreading jam on his toast – an unusually standard food combination for him River was pouring milk into her coffee and Rory had just risen form his seat when he saw Amy and walked towards her "There you are !" he said wrapping his arms round her waist and kissing her on the lips "I was just about to come and get you."

"Morning Pond" the Doctor mumbled through a mouthful of toast. River rolled her eyes towards Amy and gave him a sideways glance of both great affection and slight disgust at his manners. Amy sat down next to Rory looking around her at what felt like the best friends anyone could have around her. She happily reached for the tea pot and poured herself a mug of tea and then sat back in her chair happy to let the conversation wash over her, nodding every so often just so they knew she was listening but in reality she was only half paying attention to their words she still couldn't shake of the feeling of incoming sorrow that she knew was inevitable – they would have to leave sometime: and it killed her.


	5. Chapter 5

After breakfast Rory began to gather up the dishes and cups with a clatter , the Doctor rose from his chair and also began to gather crockery and followed Rory through to the kitchen leaving Amy and River alone.

At first there was an uncomfortable silence. What could either one say ? They had both been part of a mutual conversation the night before but the doctor had lead the talking and they hadn't said that much to each other alone.

"So what have you …." Amy began.

"So how have you ….." started River. They both stopped and laughed and suddenly it stopped being so uncomfortable, their slightly nervous laughter continued to grow until they were both giggling hysterically. From that point talking became much easier . "So where have you just come from ?" Amy asked "well," said River "a few days ago we picnicked at Asengard , it was beautiful – we landed just before dawn , and as we stepped out the famous Asengard chorus began . Hundreds of different birds began singing at once and as they did all three of the suns rose into the sky each one shimmering through all the colours as they climbed and came together as one great ball of light in the sky. The Doctor had really made an effort..."

"I can tell he made an effort , he got you somewhere at the right time for a change!" exclaimed Amy and they both started to laugh again .

"I missed you Melo... I mean, River" Amy remarked sadly

"Call me Melody if you want" River replied "That's the name you chose for me , so that's my name." At that point Amy flung her arms round River . No matter how unusual their relationship was or how strange the circumstances under which their relationship came about nothing could detract from the fact that they were mother and daughter and Amy felt as compassionately towards River as any mother did and it destroyed her that she saw her as little as she did .

Amy thought about everything she wanted to say to River , everything she felt towards her but no sound left her mouth . Instead her arms tightened around River's shoulders and tears welled in her eyes.

"Mum ?" said River noticing the tears glistening on Amy's cheek "hey , come on what's wrong ? Anyone would think we were saying goodbye"

At that point Amy knew why she was so desperate for River and the Doctor to stay , it wasn't just a feeling of missing them that struck her when they weren't there It was close to a feeling of grief and she knew that the feeling of grief could be real – she knew what life with the Doctor was like and she knew that the threat of fatality wasn't just a worry when you were with him , it was very very real.

"I just worry about you so much" said Amy, looking at River properly "When you leave I just can't bear to think of the things you're flying off towards. Somewhere is a bullet with your name on it and , unlike the rest of us , you don't sit in one place and hope the bullet can wait for you to do what needs to be done. You fly around everywhere and everything, and eventually you're going to find that bullet and however brilliant the Doctor is, there will be nothing he or anyone can do and your dad and I will lose you . I – I just couldn't bear that …" Amy sobbed as River pulled her in and embraced her again.

" Mum – you know that I know all that but you also know that if anything is worth that risk then it's life with him" River said softly as she looked across into the kitchen to where the Doctor stood. Amy followed her daughter's gaze and suddenly she saw the life she was keeping River from . "go" she told her.

"what ?" asked River a look of pure confusion on her face.

"you only stayed last night to keep me happy didn't you ?" but Amy didn't really need to ask , from the look of guilt on River's face she knew she had never been more right .River looked at the floor . "look at me ," said Amy "you can go , don't stay because of me . I know how i'd have reacted if anyone had stopped me travelling with him . You've already stayed out of the TARDIS for longer than I could have done – just , look after yourself ok ?" she said as she was nearly bowled over by another of River's hugs.


	6. Chapter 6

River finally finished hugging Amy and simply said "thank you" before she walked into the kitchen and put her arm around the Doctor "sweetie , do you think we should be heading off" she whispered as if not wishing for Amy to hear , River may have just discussed their leaving with her mother but she knew it was difficult for Amy to deal with , announcing their departure outright just seemed too cruel. The Doctor looked surprised , after all it was River who had wanted to stay so much in the first place , but after so long being married to her he had come to expect surprises and now took them in his stride "errr …" he hesitated quickly glancing over to Amy as if to confirm that she was coping with this . She smiled reassuringly , or at least she tried to, but her concern was still obvious to those who knew her well and Rory was instantly at her side , his arms round her waist providing the support she needed to smile properly and so to reassure the Doctor "right , well River" he said , rubbing his hands together in excitement "where next ?"

They packed quickly , their few possessions were thrown into one suitcase and they were pulling on their coats within minutes. Rory shook hands with the Doctor and hugged River before kissing her on the cheek and wishing her the best . Then River turned to Amy and like their conversation earlier that day neither knew what to say , tears formed in their eyes as River embraced Amy and said a long hard goodbye . All too soon for Amy their goodbye was over and the only thing left after a quick peck on the forehead from the Doctor was for River and the Doctor to leave.

The four of them made their way out to the Ponds' front garden and there it stood , as beautifully blue as ever and as full of possibility as anything could be . The Doctor quickly waved to Amy and Rory and with a click of his fingers opened the TARDIS door before leaping through it into that world they had all experienced but he seemed to rule – all of time and space. River walked slowly after him and then turned to face her parents "goodbye" she sad sadly but she knew that she was leaving her mother in the best possible hands as she saw Rory reach out and squeeze Amy's arm reassuringly . Her mind finally at ease River followed the Doctor through the TARDIS door and closed it softly behind her.

Hearing those familiar engines whirr into life was too much for Amy and a sob broke in her throat . As the TARDIS began to de-materialise ,Amy , her eyes swimming with tears , turned to the man she knew would never just fly away . Rory grabbed Amy's hands and pulled her in towards him . As the time machine disappeared for the last time Rory's lips touched Amy's and he felt her body relax into his . "it's ok , it's ok" he soothed as her shoulders shook with sobbing. Rory led her inside, his arm still round her and her head leaning against him for support. They sat down on the sofa where Amy had slept the day before. Amy turned to Rory "I knew they would leave , I knew they would have to go but every time they come part of me ignores this , part of me says "maybe this is it , maybe these are the days we lost with Melody , maybe this is when we get spend all those years with her" you know ?" Amy gushed through her sobs. "I know Amy" her husband replied quietly "of course I know, but she's married to him , and they're so perfect for each other – you know better than anyone that when you're with the Doctor staying in one place is absolutely the last thing on your mind" Amy looked at Rory seeing the concern for her in his eyes. "God I love you" she said and kissed him again.


	7. Chapter 7

Amy was quiet for the rest of the day but Rory was brilliant, he gave her space and didn't pressure her to talk at all. But for Amy knowing he was there was enough to keep her sane . The day passed in a blur but eventually the sun sank in the west and their very late night the day before took its toll and soon Rory found himself yawning and felt his eyes closing and decided to head to bed .

As he climbed the stairs he saw that the light was still on in their room ,even though Amy had come to bed hours ago and should really be asleep by now, but as he carefully opened the door to avoid waking his supposedly sleeping wife he saw that she was very much awake . All over their floor were littered a great number of things : newspaper cuttings with curious headlines "Possible alien sighting in Norwich" , "Blue UFO seen over Chipping Norton – experts stunned" and one that Rory had fond memories of "Leadworth's crop circle". Also scattered there were countless children's drawings which Rory recognised and hoards of handmade dolls in varying degrees of detail and quality but each had certain points in common , all the dolls came in pairs ;one of each pair had long locks of red hair – sometimes painted on in vibrant orange poster paint, sometimes carefully threaded from orange wool but clearly the same hair in each case. The other dolls all wore a raggedy un-tucked shirt and frayed pin-striped suit. Completing the veritable menagerie that was strewn over the bedroom carpet were many cardboard boxes; some big , some small but all equally blue and on the front of each were shakily pencilled children's letters "POLICE public call BOX" each one read.

In the middle of this vast collection sat its owner , in one hand was a small blue notebook and in the other was a Biro with which she was frantically scribbling away , so intent on her work that she didn't even notice Rory until her stood right behind her .

"Amy ?" he sounded confused and a little concerned "what , er , what are you doing ?"

She whipped her head round in surprise , her hair flicking round after it in an effort to keep up . She looked down at the notebook she was holding as if she was surprised to see her writing there "i'm , erm , writing ." she said and Rory could see embarrassment welling up inside her , it showed in her usually pale cheeks that now shone scarlet, in the way her hand moved as if of it's own accord to her hair and played with it and in the way she chewed her bottom lip until it became a deep rose colour , and looked as if she was wearing her favourite lipstick even though she had no make-up on . Rory looked at her and a look of great pride and affection showed on his face – writing ? "my god ," he thought to himself "will this woman ever stop surprising me ?"

"Writing what ?" he enquired further as he carefully picked his way across the cluttered carpet, sitting down next to his wife and putting his arm round her waist.

Amy saw that Rory was honestly interested in her writing and her embarrassment seemed to melt away to nothing as she told him "I thought i'd try to write about , well you know" she gestured around her to her collection of keep-sakes and memorabilia that filled the room "so a few months ago I started a novel , but I just couldn't do it. I didn't know where to start , you know ? And then I saw River and the Doctor yesterday and suddenly I just knew what to say. So I came up here and started writing again"

Amy finished her explanation and then looked worried , had she said to much ? Would Rory be okay with her writing about the Doctor ? Her uncertainty was obvious as she looked at her husband not knowing what might be said or done but she was pleasantly surprised . "Wow ," breathed Rory "is there anything you can't do ?" Amy smiled slightly and Rory felt her relax and he just had one more question "can I read it ?" he said timidly . Her gaze that had fallen once more to the notebook in her hand lifted once again to her husband's eyes "of course you can" she said softly and he pulled her towards him with the hand that rested round her waist and his lips met hers . Amy's eyes closed as he kissed her and once their lips parted she rested her head on his shoulder as Rory reached out towards the notebook which she had dropped on the floor and he opened it at the first page where Amy Pond's beautiful looped handwriting began to tell her mad, impossible story.


	8. Chapter 8

Rory read his wife's story as intently as if he'd never heard it before . His eyes couldn't quite bring themselves to leave the neatly filled pages until he'd finished her first chapter and the following pages showed nothing but faint grey lines waiting patiently as if they too were eager to know what might happen next.

Once he had finished he looked over to where his wife lay on their bed, fully dressed but fast asleep her beautiful auburn hair splayed across the pillow where she rested her head . He carefully put down her notebook and tidied away her pictures , cuttings and dolls into the deep blue box where they resided and then walked over and kissed Amy on the forehead "god !" he whispered to her as she slept "is there anything you can't do ?"

For months after that day Amy would write . When Rory returned home from work he would always find her , pen in hand , hunched over her notebook or fingers poised over the keyboard of her laptop ,the cursor moving rhythmically across the page on the screen as she poured her heart and soul onto the page. Even after a long night shift he would get home at 8 o'clock in the morning and there was Amy , breakfast cup of coffee on the table in front of her and her neat blue hand-writing forming her wonderful story. Most 25 year-olds wouldn't have much to write , but Amelia Pond , as always , was the exception to the rule.

But one day Rory returned home about 5 o'clock in the evening , later than usual due to the layers of snow that covered the roads and caused , much to his annoyance, a sense of huge panic that meant everyone , regardless of driving capability moved at no more than five miles per hour all the way home . He pulled up the front drive and was surprised to see that the lights were off in their house even though it was dark outside at this time in winter. "Amy ?" he called as he switched on the porch light and slotted the key into the front door "Amy are you home ?" there came no reply and the house stayed silent as he walked through the rooms and checked all her favourite writing spots . He checked the conservatory where she sometimes wrote curled up on the sofa , the kitchen where she would hunch over her laptop at the table and finally their bedroom where he would more often than not find her sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor surrounded by the very same memorabilia with which she was sitting when he first read her story. He checked all these places to no avail , his voice slightly more anxious now as he called again "Amy ?"

She always left him a note when she went out , for Rory's sake rather than her own peace of mind , she knew how much he could panic and quite frankly after all she had dragged him into who could blame him ? But there was no note , no phone call , no text . Nothing . He rang her and his heart lifted slightly as he heard his wife's voice at the other end but it fell just as quickly as the recorded message played on "Hi , it's Amy ." her cheery if slightly false phone voice greeted him , he always teased her about that voice, the way her tone became higher and, as he put it , much much Scottish-er when she spoke to people she didn't know well as if she wanted her accent to be the first thing they saw and avoid people seeing past her tough fiery Scottish shell to the much gentler , much more delicate person below. "I'm sorry I can't get to the phone right now," the voice continued "but i'll try to get back to you as soon as I can , bye !"

Rory was truly worried now , she always answered her phone , she always had . He remembered ringing her when she was at college once and she had answered in her usual manner "Hi Rory" she had said , sounding a little bored to hide the joy she felt when she saw his name appear on the screen "Hi Amy , I – I was , erm , just wondering if you're not busy if you , er, fancied going out this afternoon"

"I can't, sorry i'm busy" She said. Rory remembered how he had felt when she said that "are you out with Jeff or something ?" he asked suppressing the anger and jealousy that Amy's time with Jeff always gave him "no" she replied casually , as she glanced over at the examinations officer who with a face like thunder had appeared at Amy's side "just in the middle of an 'A' level French paper" she said as if it was the most pointless place anyone could be "call you later , bye."

Rory laughed to himself as he remembered but at the same time became more worried , why answer then and not now ? "where are you Amy ?" he muttered to himself as he heard a familiar noise outside.


	9. Chapter 9

That noise , it seemed impossible , it sounded so magical and other-worldly, and yet here it was , again. Rory ran outside and there it was; that ancient blue box had landed again ,Rory just wished it hadn't landed on his shed .

The door of the the TARDIS was yanked open and out came the Doctor and River, and much to Rory's relief, bringing up the rear of the group came Amy . They were laughing amongst themselves , that is , until they saw Rory . He may have felt relieved to see Amy safe but as soon as he saw her the only thing his face showed was anger that she hadn't told him , hadn't mentioned a thing to him – and here she was with the man he'd had to compete with all his life.

"Rory !" Amy exclaimed "what are you … look I – I can explain, I ..." Rory raised his eyebrows expectantly "go ahead" he said folding his arms . Amy looked at him and she honestly couldn't remember seeing him this angry in a long time , possibly ever. " I , erm , I finished my book" she said holding out the notebook to Rory which he took reluctantly " I just couldn't get it done , you know ?" she looked at him hopefully "But then suddenly I knew why I couldn't finish , I just knew I needed to be in the TARDIS one last time" she looked pleadingly at Rory , hoping that this was enough for him but his face continued to look unconvinced. Amy was clearly upset now , she couldn't bear her husband being angry and tears began to well in her eyes, Rory had never been like this and she just didn't know what to do . Luckily River did , "it was my fault" she said stepping forward as if stepping up to give evidence in court (which unknown to her parents she had actually had to do on more than one occasion) "before we left I gave Amy a number to call if she ever wanted another spin in the TARDIS , I could see how much she missed it , you can't say you hadn't noticed" she said as her eyes met her father's . Rory's face gradually softened as he unfolded his arms and held them out to his wife. "of course I noticed," he said "how could a quiet life ever be enough for mad, impossible Amy Pond ?"

"Rory , i'm so sorry" Amy wept as she moved into her husband's embrace .

"Don't be," Rory replied much to her surprise "Why should I be angry , you visited your best friend and our daughter , I should be pleased you've had a good time, you've been working really hard" he finished as he kissed Amy on the lips. "just call me next time , yeah ?" River and an unusually silent Doctor sighed as they saw that Amy was in the clear.

Rory finally let Amy go and then he seemed to notice the notebook in his hand for the first time and thinking over all that Amy had told him he realised he had missed a vital piece of information " you finished it ?" he said looking from the notebook to his wife and back again "can I … can I read it ?" he asked, but Amy's reply was cut off by an exclamation from the Doctor "oy ! Not so fast Williams ! We want to read it too you know" Rory couldn't help feeling a little burst of happiness to learn that the doctor hadn't read it either , he didn't mean to feel like this but after years of playing second best to Amy's raggedy Doctor the thought that he may have finally levelled the playing field couldn't fail to please him. Luckily River was at Amy's aide again and she had a suggestion , "you read it to us ," she said to Amy , it didn't sound like an idea – it was an order that would get her husband and her father to stop bickering and that would please her mother and so no-one would dare to argue with her plan. Amy looked unsure but eventually with reassuring looks from her husband daughter and son in law (though thinking of the Doctor as son in law didn't do much for her confidence) she agreed to read it to them and the four of them settled in the lounge that Amy had slept in when they had last visited almost 6 months previously. She cautiously flipped open the notebook and with a glance to what may have been the most supportive audience ever , she began to read.


	10. Chapter 10

Listening to Amy's story may have been the quietest that Rory , River and particularly the Doctor had ever been in their lives (which for some of them meant much longer than for others). Amy read through the chapters of her book and it was hard to believe that she had never done this before, the words seemed to roll off her tongue and all too soon the story was over. They sat round in silence as Amy looked from one to the other. "okay , I know it's not good," she said defeatedly "but what do you think ? Honestly." she added, looking around them all before her eyes landed on and rested with her husband

"Amy, it's... amazing. You're amazing" breathed Rory, he put one arm round her waist and the other hand softly brushed her cheek as it made its way to her hair and he ran his fingers though her beautiful long locks to the back of her head and pulled her into a kiss , her body edged ever closer to his and even after they had finished kissing she stayed close to him, leaning against him as she looked half-heartedly across the room to where River and the Doctor sat together , she felt like she should probably hear their opinions too but just out of politeness , now that she'd heard what Rory thought she knew that really no other opinions mattered . He liked the story but more importantly in Amy's eyes, he loved her.

"Well Pond ..." the Doctor began and then he saw Rory with his arm round her "well Mrs. Williams" he corrected himself slightly uncomfortably " not a bad job" he concluded as a smile spread across his lips. Amy laughed and looked to River for confirmation of the Doctor's view, she noticed that River's eyes swam with tears and her hand seemed to cling to the Doctor for support and reassurance . Amy looked so concerned and within seconds she was sitting next to her daughter with her arms round her and River was crying into her shoulder , it was at moments like this that it didn't matter to anyone that River looked older than her mother or even that Amy hadn't raised her daughter or seen her grow up – they were as much mother and daughter as anyone in the world .

"River " Amy said quietly "come on , what's wrong ?" River looked at her mother and smiled weakly through her tears "all those thing you were talking about , your life when you were younger , your time with the Doctor , everything . And I've never heard it , I don't know the parents you talk about , I've never met the Aunt who brought you up and here you are telling me all of it in a few hours . It's so much to take in and it just reminds me how much we missed out on , I just wish we could have had that same relationship that everyone else knows." as she finished tears were running down her face and her voice sounded strained . Amy was crying too now and she was desperate to make up at least some of the lost time with her daughter , even if she had just a day or two to do it, suddenly Amy Pond's famous determination overcame any other feelings she had and she composed herself and became assertive "Right ! River, Doctor – you're staying the weekend , get some things from the TARDIS. Rory make the spare bed." The Doctor and River looked surprised but not even timelords are brave enough to refuse Amy's commands and they followed her instructions without question and headed outside to the TARDIS to get their belongings. Amy walked into the hallway and Rory followed her with a puzzled look on his face.

"Amy," said Rory cautiously as if he feared she may explode at any second "what , er , what are you doing ?"

"Making up lost time." Amy said simply as she opened the cabinet and began to root through it's contents "now , do you know where the family photo album is ?"


	11. Chapter 11

Rory and the Doctor looked on in wonder as Amy and River talked nineteen to the dozen, it was the third day of Amy's plan to make up all her lost time with her daughter and somehow they were still talking and still finding new things to say. Rory glanced over at the Doctor and they exchanged a perplexed look before continuing to stare blankly into space .

"so when I was 19 …" Amy continued as Rory considered pulling his own arm off just for something to do and the Doctor began to wonder if there was any way he could use the sonic to make him temporarily deaf , at least until Amy had finished. Gradually however it became obvious that Amy had something else on her mind and her flood of words slowed to a trickle . Rory noticed that she kept checking her watch as she talked and as it grew closer and closer to 11 o'clock in the morning these checks became more and more frequent . "You okay Amy ?" said River noticing her mum's jittery behaviour . Amy looked confused but partially relieved , at least now she didn't have to interrupt the conversation, River had done it for her. "I , erm , I need to go" "where ?" said Rory suddenly interested in the conversation , Amy's pale cheeks looked flushed with success but was a little shy as she said "I have a meeting, I emailed the story to a publisher a few days ago . They want to see me at one today"

Rory smiled and shook his head in disbelief , all Amy's tales that she had told River may not have been new to him but they had at least made Rory reminisce about his past , or more specifically about Amy's part in his past how could he , an unpopular boy who once pretended to be in a band just to impress people ever have ended up with her ? Amy pond , the amazing, beautiful , impossible girl of his dreams . But he didn't share these thoughts , he merely walked wordlessly over to her and hugged her before asking "so can I give you a lift to your , er , meeting ?" "thanks," she said quietly as she smiled up at Rory and then kissed him softly on the lips before she headed upstairs to get changed and Rory made his way to the conservatory to look over the map and work out how to get to the publisher's offices.

River looked around at the Doctor with a smile on her face but soon her face fell as she saw that, like Amy, he had somewhere to be too. "What ?" he said as he noticed they way she looked at him . " Fine !" she sighed rolling her eyes "where next ?" The Doctor smiled , of course if anyone knew what he was thinking it was River . They quickly packed up their belongings but River was silent as they did this, all she could think about was how the hell she was going to tell Amy that she was leaving again.

Soon River heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and with a glance over at the Doctor who sat with their suitcases at his feet she turned towards the doorway where Amy was stood . Amy was wearing a smart black suit and high heels , her hair was lightly curled, her hazel eyes were framed with thick sweeping lines of eyeliner and her lips were coated with pale peach lipstick . She looked every bit the professional but to her daughter she looked intimidating and River became ever less sure as to how she could ever tell her she was going away again . Amy didn't need telling though , even with her mind on the meeting she was about to face her quick mind added together the clues that surrounded her , the suitcases on the floor , the nervous look on the Doctor's face ,the way River chewed her lip . Amy looked from River to the Doctor to the suitcases at his feet. Her eyes closed and tears seeped form under her eyelids , perfect make-up began to run down her face as she sat gingerly on the arm of the sofa "I know ..." she sighed cutting across River who was just opening her mouth to speak and explain . "you can go,"... ("Again" she added under her breath). "how could I stop you going ?" River ran to her mother and threw her arms round her neck "Thank you mother" river sobbed into Amy's shoulder.

Their goodbyes were easier than last time , and though letting River go was never ok , at least now River knew what Amy felt she should know , about her parents , her family, about her.


	12. Chapter 12

Amy couldn't bear to watch the TARDIS disappear again . She goodbye at the front door like she would to any other guests and then closed it softly behind her and let the tears fall , the last thing she could do now was attend a meeting that could change her life but that was the one thing she needed to do.

"Amy ?" Rory called "you ready to go?" Amy turned towards the sound of her husband's voice and caught sight of herself in the hallway mirror . She sniffed and held back the remaining tears as she wiped her smudged make-up away and called back "yes" in a trembling voice.

The more Amy thought about that day the less she knew how she did it but she arrived home that evening an author , she and Rory spent that night in shock and spent the next months attending to all that came with being a writer .There were hundreds of meetings , phone calls , emails and faxes but by that summer it was done and as Amy picked up the post one morning there it was, the envelope she'd been waiting for all this time "Rory !" she shouted and he came quickly with a panicked look on his face "what is it ?" he said but he wasn't angry , he was just being Rory , so he was of course just very concerned for his wife. But Amy couldn't reply , her hands were tearing at the brown , rectangular parcel that she was holding and as she threw aside the remnants of the wrapping she gasped as she saw the front cover of the book , her book . Deep navy lines swirled across the glossy page and stars of metallic paper shimmered . At the bottom of the page her main character sat . The girl's auburn hair peeped out form a large woollen hat and her small body was wrapped in a blue duffel coat , she was perched on a small red suitcase with her eyes fixed determinedly at the night sky where large letters read _The__Girl__Who__Waited__and__her__Mad__,Impossible__Story_ by Amelia Williams .


End file.
